Abu Sayyaf frees mining official

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Abu Sayyaf Group has freed a Filipino nickel mining executive they kidnapped in May 2014 in Tawi-Tawi province, officials said Wednesday.

Capt. Roy Trinidad, a military spokesman, said Priscillano Garcia—who works for a mining firm in Tumbagaan Island in Languyan town—was released on Tuesday evening in the town of Indanan in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

Garcia was already in a boat bound for Zamboanga City when government soldiers tracked him down in Jolo town, Trinidad added.

Reports said that the bandits released Garcia after they were paid over a million pesos in ransom. Trinidad was mum on the issue.

“The rebels freed the victim due to continued military operation against them,” Trinidad replied.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding about a dozen Filipino and foreigners they kidnapped in different areas in the southern Philippines.

Last year, the Abu Sayyaf also released two mining workers—Marcial Espana and Eddie Reubal—after almost a year in captivity in Sulu’s Patikul town. The two men were seized on May 2013 in Tawi-Tawi province—along with Mar Hadjula, who was later freed—while working for SR Languyan (nickel) Mining Corporation.